IDAHO WINTER

by
Joe JaszewskiStaff Photographer
Idaho Statesman

My experience of winters has been northern California-style: fog,
rain, and temperatures that dare dip into the high-30's. That
is, until I moved to Boise, Idaho last summer.

I just finished my first REAL winter, complete with single-digit
temperatures and snow storms. And it was certainly a different experience.
Jeans and a jacket no longer cut it for January clothing and a Nissan
sedan doesn't cut it for making it over mountain passes. Throw a
broken foot into the mix which kept me off the ski hill, and it was
a long winter for me.
But it presented me with some different experiences photographically.

Carcassas
of deer and elk lay in Luck Peak Reservoir on
Jan. 9th, 2004 after dozens fell through the
ice near More's Creek east of Boise, ID. The
animals were trying to get to their winter range
and more food after several storms pounded the
higher elevations.

Just
after Christmas we had a series of snow storms that pounded
the southern part of the state, especially in the higher elevations.
So much so that hundreds of deer and elk were coming down to
lower elevations looking for food because everything was so
snowed in higher up.

Dozens of them crossed Luck Peak reservoir which the Boise River flows
into, about 30 miles north east of Boise. Unfortunately for the animals,
the ice couldn't support the weight of them all and dozens ended up falling
in the icy water to their deaths.

This picture was embarrassingly easy to shoot. I just had to park my car
along ID-21, walk out about 50 feet to the edge of a cliff, and shoot down
into the reservoir with a 300mm lens.

Later
that month, my editor came to me and asked if I had anything I
might like to shoot for the local section centerpiece. This
doesn't happen often, so I was prepared for it. Idaho is still
very much
an agricultural state, especially in the south. I had wanted
to profile a small-scale, independent farmer/rancher as a contrast
to the agribusiness
that dominates the state and our newspaper pages.

So I had
contact information for Janie Burns in my drawer already. I
gave her a call, asked if I could hang out for the afternoon,
and off I went. We traipsed around in the snow, feeding sheep
and making sure their water was wasn't frozen on her 10-acre
spread west of Boise.

Janie Burns
walks out to the frozen fields to feed her sheep on
her 10 acre Nampa, ID farm which she raises
sheep, chickens and grows organic vegetables on.

I
don't think I had ever been so cold in my life: single digits and
wind-chill. I don't know how I kept moving my fingers.

I ended up turning in a 3-picture package and a short story as
well for the next day's paper.

Boise's elevation is moderate, about 2,800 feet, and it's situated
in a valley so the winter here is probably the most mild in the state.
And I'm sure those of you who work every year in winter conditions
much worse will laugh at how routine Real Winter is. But it wasn't
for this native Californian.